Lezyne’s Pressure Drive mini pump is a CNC aluminum mini pump that claims to go to 120psi. The overlapping barrel and handle with a detacheable threaded hose makes for a compact package that easily slides into even the smallest hydration pack. It even does well inside a jersey pocket alongside a tube to keep it from bouncing around or sliding out too easily.
Lezyne claims the oversized barrel reduces the number of strokes required to fill a tire. I didn’t keep count, but getting a tubeless mountain bike tire or cyclocross tire up to riding pressure wasn’t terribly laborious. Filling a road tire wasn’t as much fun, which is sort of a shame because it does fit so well in a jersey and it’s really lightweight. That said, it’s far better than some other compact pumps I’ve used.
Fill up with the details after the break…
The ABS flexible hose threads onto the valve stem and has Presta on one end and Schrader on the other. Because it’s not a fixed part of the pump, you can really put some elbow grease into the pumping without fear of breaking the valve and ruining your ride (or at minimum your tube).
The threaded attachment has a pressure release valve to let air out of the pump hose before removing it to ease the release and keep it from popping off. The downside to threaded attachments is that they tend to pull removable valve cores with them, letting all your hard earned air right back out.
This problem isn’t exclusive to Lezyne. Some of their pumps include adapters to simple press onto the stem, so you could order one of those with your pump. Or you could get a threaded Presta-to-Schrader adapter and use that, but it takes away a little of the magic. And press-on tips aren’t going to stay on as well during vigorous pumping. A better solution is to get tubes or tubeless valves without removable cores, which is what I’m slowly replacing all of mine with.
When you’re done, you simply unthread it, slide it into the other end and thread it in flush:
Even with my large hands, it was comfortable to pump and didn’t heat up too much. Action is smooth and tight, it feels well constructed, and no air leaked out around the valve. It’s become my default pack pump.
The Lezyne Pressure Drive comes in gold (tested), black, red and blue and retails for $44.99.
